Oh my ears and whiskers...

... how late it's getting! as the Rabbit would say.

A is officially not on vacation or sic (sic) leave. She's been in 30:30 — which is a kind of Wonderland where the words, DRINK ME lead to a lot of rabbit holes. Like pretending to be in India without rabbits. Like playing (with Valerie) at being an imaginary reviewer of an imaginary children's book called Bunny Steals a Pirate Ship. Like using rabbit's foot keychains to bring luck into several kitschy poems.

So she set to work, and very soon finished off the cake —

• The Mad Hatter has disappeared with our Bundles ms and hasn't been heard of since. Good grief.

• On the other hand, Valerie has amazingly completed the schedule of our Bundles readings. Our appearances in Drexel University and Kutztown University have been solidified on paper. I've got a reading scheduled on October 19 with Leonard Gontarek at Robin's Bookstore and on October 21 with Valerie at Green Line Cafe, both in Philly. Will post our full schedule here before I leave in case anyone would like to come.

• The September 2008 issue of Press 1 has been prepared well ahead of time.

• At some point, my Stand 187 contract was signed and mailed back to the sender.

• Advanced birthday gifts were exchanged between the husband and myself: a fancy iPod for him; a cheap mouse, a 300GB hard drive and a laptop cooler for me and my long-suffering laptop, my so-called better half.

• My copy of Best of the Web 2008 finally arrived!! It's gorgeous — with really great writing from people whose works I admire: Benjamin Buchholz, Jared Carter, Valerie Loveland, Christopher Rizzo, etc. I was also pleasantly surprised to discover the writing of Carmen Gimenez Smith through her poem, So You Know Who We Are or rather the exciting dandruff in this poem — I've never seen such a sordid detail used so eloquently. Wooohoooooo!

Recent publications:

• Two poems, Alopecia and the grizzly bear and mortality: a study are up in Issue 17 (Summer 2008) of Arsenic Lobster. I'm particularly pleased by the amount and variety of animals in this issue — chickens, a star-nosed mole and potato eyes (which, after reading Joshua Diamond's poem, might as well be an animal).

• Discovered that my poem, Window Screen (plus mp3 recording) has been up for, quite possibly, ages in the Spring 2008 issue Pebble Lake Review.

• Have two poems, flashlight solo and The Model Particular in the Fall 2008 issue of Caffeine Destiny. Am really thrilled to be part of this terrific 'zine — one of my favorites — because I never thought I'd get into this issue. Fairy tale story below.

Is destiny or just Caffeine Destiny?

Once upon an August day, the editor of Caffeine Destiny wrote asking if she had recently accepted anything from Little Red Writing A because she had A's name on file for the Fall 2008 issue. A, being a meticulous kind of girl, checked her records and replied that what she had on file was a rejection, but was incidentally preparing another batch to send (she didn't know the 'zine was already closed to submissions until January 2009 — still giving herself a whack with the blunt edge of the axe for not rechecking the submissions page at the time). Instead of chocolates for her good record-keeping skills, the editor agreed to give A a chance to send over the batch before the month was out. The rest is happily ever after. With the peace broken intermittently by...

The funniest laugh ever:

While raiding Radiohead songs on YouTube, I stumbled upon this weirdness. I used to think my siblings had the funniest laugh, but this one just beats my family members to pulp. I'm so tickled pink.

Back from vegetable land

With much thanks to the wake-up calls of Liz who said that Simming season is over and Sam who left this meme —

As an adult, the following selections have influenced or impacted me the most —

Book:
      Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard

(It's actually a play, but I've never seen it. Peeked into the movie version, but I've always preferred how it's set up in my mind.)


Film / network series:
      The Pianist (2002), Roman Polanski, Dir.


Music / spoken word recording:
     In Ogni Senso and Tutte Storie by Eros Ramazzotti

(Heck, without this fella's lyrics, I've have never learnt Italian.)


The downdate on A:

• We're finally seeing the light on the Bundles mss!! Because the CafePress product wasn't very satisfactory, we've decided to find another printer. All I need now is to —erm— center the same image on the book cover. Equilibrium has never been my forte.

• Talking of equilibrium, I've spent this month on a trial go at attending yoga class twice a week. I seem to be able to handle the pain and have decided to continue in September when the school re-opens. I still fall asleep (and dream weird things) every 5 breaths during the meditation... but not even Buddha grew his paunch in three years.

• Don't think I mentioned having already gotten my e-tickets for Philly and LA this October/November. I've actually got some readings scheduled with Valerie and Leonard. Yikes! The sister and I will probably head for San Francisco for a few days, too — it's the reason I'm forcing myself to play Big City Adventure and take note of places that seem interesting to visit.

• I'm tickled pink by The Middleman.

• I thought today was August 1. The back-to-30:30 day. I woke up early (1100 hrs). I wrote a god-awful poem and since then have breathed in fear of tomorrow.


Recent publications:




• The Best of the Web 2008 anthology is out! Valerie Loveland mentioned she's got work in it, too — yay! Can't wait to get my copy. I'm still in the dark. They were supposed to use my poem, Possessions... but according to this Time Out Chicago review, they opted for Ceremonial Spoon instead.

• My poems, Addiction and The Official Miss de Bourgh Letter to Stalkers, plus Valerie's Eros in the Cafe, Annotating His Non-Illustrated Dream Book are up in the avant-garde first issue of CEllA's Round Trip.

• Am back in my gorilla suit in Juked.

They're a bit sluggish with replies, but if you query (as I did) you get a reply soonish!

     Submission sent: 9 March 2008
     Reply date: 6 July 2008

• Received my copy of THE SHOp — it's gorgeous!! And the €20 inserted between the pages allowed me to feed the husband a balanced diet of meat and veggie for a total of three days.

A quick look at their website indicates that they're currently looking for more poems on "war, terrorism, torture, child abuse slavery, denial of women's rights, political corruption." They accept submissions only via postal mail, but they do reply via e-mail.


Other acceptances:

• Arsenic Lobster accepted two poems, Alopecia and the grizzly bear and mortality: a study for their August 2008 issue.

     Submission sent: 16 April 2008
     Reply date: 10 July 2008

• Wheelhouse Magazine accepted three poems, Rearview, The Gorilla Suit Admires Itself in the Mirror and Poetry Reading at Y's Penthouse for their 6th issue.

     Submission posted: 10 March 2008
     Reply received: 17 July 2008

• DMQ Review accepted an oldish poem, Like closed eyes for their Autumn 2008 issue.

     Submission posted: 27 June 2008
     Reply received: 28 July 2008

Gone Simming

It's summer, and A deserves a vacation from her —erm— vacation.

These past weeks she's managed to come up with something like 2,000+ fantasy/sci-fi names and surnames for her future Sims. Right now she's still in the process of rebuilding their wardrobe and coiffures. At the rate she's going, as the husband observed, by the time she starts the actual playing, Sims 3 will already be out.

Work-wise, Valerie and I have received our sample copy of the Bundles manuscript. We're really happy about it... just needs a few more tweaks here and there. I don't know what it is about margins and page alignments that regresses me to the anal stage — but that's where I am, together with my (future) Sims and their tacky high heels.

Anyway, just rushing through this blog with the usual updates, for my records. I also have a real-life 2008 agenda where I note these things down, but it always disappears the moment I need it — the problem with physical things — not to mention that between April and June, the lines and dates disappeared and left me to fend for myself. Boo. I made a mess trying to date the pages since I couldn't even see which month I was in. It was a really cheap agenda. Hee.


Recent publications:

WARNING: Long list ahead. Please don't urinate in the kiddie pool.

• An oldish poem, After the Affair is up in the Herstory Issue of Cahoots Magazine (Spring 2008).

• My copy of Chiron Review #83, Summer 2008 arrived yesterday. Have three poems in this issue, Driving Home, Snow Globe and Sunday Morning Mass.

• Three poems, The 37th Secret Love Poem, Relic and This dirty napkin are up in the Summer 2008 issue of Dirty Napkin. I was so thrilled to read the exciting poems of fellow bloggers, Jayne and Nanette in this issue, too.
If you subscribe, you'll be able to hear us say Ni.

• Valerie and I have a set of poems (plus recordings) from the Bundles manuscript up at John Vick's Adroitly Placed Word. Valerie did some stunning, surreal vocal effects in her readings... while I just tried to cheat my way with cheeky background effects. We're both proud Audacity users.

• Another RC Flyer Off Course is up in Thieves Jargon — on its trail, Mark Baumer and I had an ultra-weird conversation at Everyday Yeah. I've been cleaning the house ever since after this and getting dirtier by the day.

• Have an oldish poem, Squeeze and a spankin' new one, A Kind of Pompeii in Prick of the Spindle (Vol 2.2).

They were really quick here — i.e. time between acceptance and publication. Or maybe I'm just sluggish.

     Submission sent: 25 May 2008
     Reply date: 19 June 2008

• Banned for Life, the first poem I did in my 12th round at 30:30 made it in the — guess what — "Banned for Life" issue of Six Little Things.

Was so thrilled to see Annie Bien's poem, The Harmonious Society — which I remember from one of her 30:30 rounds — in this issue, too. Yay!

Okay, so I'm really sluggish. Here's the response time of this ultra-cool 'zine.

     Submission sent: 16 May 2008
     Reply date: 4 June 2008


Other acceptances:

• Pebble Lake Review accepted my poem, Window Screen for their Spring 2008 issue.

They now request an audio recording of published pieces. Yikes. It's kind of becoming a norm with online 'zines.

     Submission sent: 13 February 2008
     Reply date: 8 June 2008

• Ambit accepted a sestina, The Magnificent Shrimp World of Fergus — and made me one happy fish.

Like with Stand, their response time is pythonic. Hee. But the editors did apologize, saying that my submission got lost before it was found. So, this is probably just in this case.

     Submission posted: 6 July 2007
     Reply received: 18 June 2008

• Beneath the Weave, a Medea-based poem, was accepted for inclusion in In the Telling anthology (Cinnamon Press).

     Submission sent: 13 February 2008
     Reply date: 23 June 2008


Persistent summer ditty in A's head:

Oh yeah, life goes on,
long after the thrill of living is gone.

             — John Cougar Mellencamp

15 days of hell

Not to mention crap. Have dragged my sorry ass back to 30:30. It's one of those rounds where every poem is a just placeholder since three-fourths of my brain is either raiding the playfirst site (again) or youtubing senselessly.

Have been very good today though: (a) went through the Press 1 subs and sent my "votes" to the PA gang, (b) after more than a month, remembered to call my sister, (c) submitted some poems around, and (d) hey, am actually blogging now.

The Bundles manuscript is still undergoing corrections and edits. The compound nouns are driving Valerie and me rather crazy. It's a learning experience though. Like coalmine (not coal mine) and bunk bed (not bunkbed).

First ever interview (in English):

Susan Smith Nash's interview with A is up at E-learning Queen. Yikes. Only goes to show that in this world, not only vampires get interviewed.

Recent print publications:

• Received my copy of Orbis #143 — which includes two sonnenizios, Airborne (on a line from Ros Barber) and Breakage (on a line from Jean Cassou).

This issue also has poetry by familiar names such as Neil Campbell, Alison Chisholm, Sarah Law, David Lawrence and Todd Swift — along with book and magazine reviews.

• My copy of Seam #28 also arrived. Have two poems also in this issue, The Plagiarist and Outdoors.

It is 73 pages, flat-spined, with a two-color card cover. Was really excited to read the poems of fellow bloggers, James Midgley and Rob Mackenzie.

Recent acceptances:

• CEllA's Round Trip, a spankin' new 'zine accepted two poems, Addiction and The Official Miss de Bourgh Letter to Stalkers for their first issue (Spring 2008).

Much thanks go to Sean Lovelace (author of the ultimate drinking poem, So, This Is Drink) for introducing me to this terrific-looking journal. On a hunch, I also sent Valerie's stuff to the editor and was doubly thrilled when they also accepted her Eros in the Cafe, Annotating His Non-Illustrated Dream Book, one of my favorites in the Bundles manuscript. So excited about this!

OH. YES. Now I remember. The lovely editor called me Angela twice in her acceptance letter. Later, she admitted she didn't know what made her type that when she actually knew my name was Arlene. ***Twilight Zone theme song playing in the background here***

     Submission sent: 30 April 2008
     Reply date: 12 May 2008

• After years of trying, was overjoyed to receive my second acceptance note from DIAGRAM. Wheeeeee!

They accepted my longish poem, Shipwreck — the one based on this dream I had about entering a submarine and looking at all the dead people. It was eerie, to say the least.

     Submission sent: 12 April 2008
     Reply date: 14 May 2008

• Thieves Jargon, another cool 'zine, accepted an oldish poem, Another RC Flyer Off Course for a future issue.

     Submission sent: 5 May 2008
     Reply date: 25 May 2008

[oops, editing to add this bit 26.05.08]

• Dirty Napkin sent me a third acceptance e-mail for my poem, Relic. On receiving their first two e-mails and seeing that they've removed my submission from their database, I thought this went into the rejection box — but it seems that they reply to each work individually. It might be a good idea to keep that in mind when submitting to them.

They made me do a recording for this, too. They gave me a third excuse for drinking myself hoarse in front of the microphone. To give more depth to my reading, I wore a party hat. In private.

     Submission sent: 14 March 2008
     Reply date: 16 May 2008

[Existential question for the day: If you're not drunk, what's going to happen to you?]

A's Official 30:30 Song:



Was going through an REM phase when I came across this video at YouTube. Tickled me silly. That furry yellow monster at the back is a creepy incarnation of my brain — which goes (same intonation, same whine percentage), I AM SO SAD! as soon as it sees me settle down to write my daily poem. Come to think of it, these monsters look every bit like my little gray cells... at Carnival time. They make the same happy/sobbing noises in Dolby Surround in my head.

Hope this video brings a smile to someone's day. C'mon, monsters! You don't have to cry, we can be happy! YEAH! Teehee.

New issues of The Pedestal Magazine and Press 1

Am clapping-my-hands-happy to announce that the 21 April 2008 issue of The Pedestal Magazine is finally up.

It's quite late, I know — we've had to struggle to get it out because the site was hacked, declared DOA, resurrected... and on the third day, as in Jesus H. Kerist, was dead again. Am relieved to say that the current reincarnation of TPM is looking as blue-violet as ever and not the least bit zombified.

The new issue features fabulous work by Elizabeth Bruno, Anne Agnes Colwell, Michelle Kyoko Crowson, William Doreski, Stewart Florsheim, Matthew Gavin Frank, James Grabill, Sarah Law, James Midgley, Tayve Neese, Gailmarie Pahmeier, David A. Pitcher, Frances Ruiz, Hannah Silva, and Joshua Michael Stewart.

Secondly, the May 2008 issue of Press 1 is also up — featuring the fantastic photography of Metin Demiralay, with exciting poetry by L. Ward Abel, CL Bledsoe, Barry Denny, John Grey, Sarah Kolbasowski, David Mills, Susan Smith Nash, Maurice Oliver, Tom Savage, Melissa Shook, and Davide Trame.

With my mental grasp of arithmetic, I think that after putting together two issues I'm supposed to celebrate with two bottles of wine and drink both simultaneously from my pint-size beer glass until it (the glass) appears to double before my eyes. Hee.

Recent publications:

• A poem, Laguna Palace, Mestre is up in the Winter 2008 issue of Convergence. Was thrilled to see that Davide has a got a poem in this issue, too. Yay!

• Another poem, Time with Frieda is up in the 3rd issue of 34th Parallel, plus two photos of (ewwww!) A (though am rather fond of this one, photography-wise).

Recent acceptance:

• Iodine Poetry Journal, an NC-based print journal, accepted my (hehe) lascivious Petrarchan sonnet, Artichoke for their Fall/Winter 2008/2009 issue. All this iodine reminds me of that time my sis passed out in the bathroom and woke up with an apple-sized bruise (sans skin) on her knee — a sure warning against over-imbibing... but after two bottles — of wine, of iodine — who's keeping tabs?

Anyway, overseas writers may send submissions via e-mail — which is always a treat. They have really good response times, too. Very nice professional manners.

     Submission sent: 18 March 2008
     Reply date: 30 April 2008

Talking of Petrarchan sonnets —

This little bunny lasted five days in 30:30 while attempting to write 24 Petrarchan sonnets based on Chopin's Preludes. After the 5th sonnet, the whole idea began to reek of serial murder... and I just had to re-install Civ 4 in my laptop so that I could go on a killing rampage. Ooooh, bliss.

Swatting at swarms of bees

Just when I thought this month would be spent in leisure, things change. For one, have finally decided to concretize my October visit to the US — will spend some time with the sister in CA (drinking in Napa Valley at the topmost of our to-do list) and some time with Valerie in PA to promote our book (she mentioned bar readings being more fun since we could drink). There's some kind of single-mindedness about this trip, but I can't put my finger on it while holding an empty glass.

The bees that A has been killing lately —


• Finalized Bundles book cover. Ain't it gorgeous?!! The painting, Kindred Spirits is used with the kind permission of Pamela Hill/dzaet. The mss, on the other hand, is still in the process of preparation — the 8 x 5 page size rather messed up with our longish lines, so we're editing a bit to give the aesthetics more bite. Who said men are the only ones who've got length problems?

• Spent an evening, drink in hand, recording two poems for Dirty Napkin (see below).

• Answered interview questions for E-Learning Queen in an orderly and concise manner that shouldn't betray the percentage of alcohol in my blood.

• Exercised the right to vote for the first time in my life and as Italian citizen. Yay!

• Finally updated my site, Valerie's and Leonard's.

• E-mailed around to request permission from people whose works I quoted in my other book (see below again).

• Buzzed noisily around TPM April 2008 issue and Press 1 May 2008 issue.

• And before all the bees broke loose, finished modding Guild 2 to suit my evil deeds — like beguiling the opposite sex so they vote for me in elections or not going to prison after murdering someone in cold blood.

Recent acceptances:

• Cinnamon Press accepted my book-length manuscript, Seeing Birds in Church is a Kind of Adieu. Wheeeeee!

After accepting my poems for Envoi, the editor hinted that she'd like to look at a full-length manuscript for possible publication under Cinnamon Press. It was really good timing because I had the ex-Lean Season mss in my Outbox just waiting for revision and for me to decide where to send it.

Publication date is scheduled for March 2010. Hee. Just thinking about it gives me Alzheimer's. But it does leave me ample time to track down people whose work I've quoted in the book... people like Robert Frost and Tolkien who —erm— happen to be dead, but whose estate might want us to pay a fee for the usage. Good grief. This rather cures me of wanting to quote anyone dead or famous in my poems ever again.

However, the husband put it another way to me: Since we will be selling the book, and theoretically, aiming to earn from the sales, it seems only ethically correct to pay for the usage of someone else's line on the basis that we are getting leverage from it and the famous person's name. Kind of sounds better and more logical in Italian, but there it is.

     Manuscript e-mailed: 4 March 2008
     Reply date: 31 March 2008

• Dirty Napkin accepted two poems, The 37th Secret Love Poem and (hehe) This dirty napkin for their Summer issue, due out on 21 June 2008.

Really adore this 'zine — very nice professional manners and terrific poetry. They've also got a cool online submission system where you can track your work and also withdraw them (if needed). On acceptance, they request a recording of your work — if you're not equipped, they'll do it with you over the phone.

     Submission sent: 14 March 2008
     Reply date: 14 April 2008

Recent publications:

• Have three poems — Self-Portrait with Umbrella, A Warning about Attachments and Wu Jin Contemplates the Tattoo on a Soft Cheek — in the third issue of Mascara.

• My copies (2) of Georgetown Review arrived this morning. Because the FedEx guy woke me up, at first I thought I was dreaming. They accepted my work two years ago, after all.

One of my poems, The 4th Secret Love Poem may be read online. I can't believe they've got my name wrong on the webpage after getting it right four times in the print journal. It's like a rock waiting to fall. Some days ago a TPM contributor addressed me as Dear Ariene. I tell you, it's a conspiracy. Either that or my name's a finger-twister for typists.

Recently received:

• Craig Kirchner's Roomful of Navels. Wrote one of the blurbs at the back, so I'm rather biased about loving this book. Sample poems in this terrific collection may be found at Lily, Mannequin Envy, No Tell Motel and SNR Review.

Writing poetry may be hazardous to your health

It's been proven, according to this Guardian article by Marc Abrahams (courtesy of the Normalcy Count Department who shared the good news to her fellow 30:30ers).

It's one of the reasons I was so freakin' happy to finish my 11th round in 30:30 yesterday.

Am taking a break now for a week or two because (1) primal energies need to focus on selecting poems for the April TPM, (2) Press 1 requires all four eyes to get its ass into HTML, (3) I have video games to play [stated in the tone of I have mouths to feed] and (4) it seems a good idea to live longer... if only for the simple pleasure of watching my face — in the mirror, in the toilet bowl, in the dentist's eyes — turn green with drink.

Recent publications:

• Just got word that Carousel 22 is "f-i-n-a-l-l-y competed [sic] and in-hand and will be appearing in stores starting this week!" Hee. Couldn't resist quoting that. I get all ticklish when it comes to typos and grammatical errors as long as they aren't mine.

Anyway, this is one stunning print journal — with no-holds-barred full-color cover and pages. The poetry, fiction and artwork are delish, too. Very eclectic tastes — they seem to like mainstream and experimental in equal parts.

• My poem, twenty-four : sawdust is now up in Sidebrow. There's only one smiley for that —>

Recently received:

• PN Review 180. Yep, in a moment of weakness, I actually subscribed. It's a UK-based print journal, A4-sized and flat-spined, which publishes poetry, reports, reviews and articles in more or less equal portions. I was particularly bowled over by Robin Maconie's article, The Way of Music: Aural Training for the Internet Generation. It's ticklish, weird, thought-provoking and... well, it's got a dog in it. Here's an excerpt:

From Book Two: Walking the Dog

1
A dog barks: Woof! Woof!
When a dog barks, there are usually two parts, a Bow and a Wow. A repeated action such as this is a basic indicator that the source of the sound is a living creature and not a random natural event. Here is a proverb: 'A tree falls only once.' Some natural sounds repeat, like a bouncing table-tennis ball or a dripping faucet. In that event we hear the sounds not as a random event, but as an organised process.

4
If you can hear it, then you can hear.
The world of sound is a picture in constant renewal. Sounds come and go. Our eyes tell us that the environment stays in place and is always complete; but for those who cannot see, the real world is a constantly-changing mosaic of momentary impressions. The more dependent we are on the sense of hearing, the more appreciative we are of what we hear.

5
In a bark, a dog exists.
In identifying a disturbance as a dog barking, the listener in effect 'calls the dog into existence'. The notion of a revealed reality is the underlying meaning of the bible creation myth.

• Sogyal Rinpoche's The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. I'm still in the initial pages — it arrived last Saturday — but I'm loving it. I rather wish I'd read it before my parents passed away because, apart from teaching one how to understand death, it also gives advice on how to help/accompany the dying in the passage between life and death.

Thank you for this book, Liz!!

And more importantly [hee], thanks to the Amazon.com box, I've finally kicked away my old-sneakers-faux-nightstand. Due to the weight of my books, they've gotten all squashed and unbalanced, and it was more difficult by the night to keep everything from sliding to the filthy floor. I was seriously thinking about putting some back to their shelves. However, with Liz's box, I now get to clear the matrimonial bed and pile up to 30 books nightly in the box in less than a minute — which means less time spent watching the husband at the corner of my eyes roll his eyes and make lurid signs that have to do with one foot tapping.